staff reporter(wp/es):
At least a dozen people including two crew members were injured when the United Airlines jet from Houston, Texas, dropped suddenly and spent at least two seconds in free fall.
The turbulence scare happened in the early hours, with many passengers asleep and their seatbelts unbuckled, according to a woman on board.
It "sent passengers flying" through the cabin and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing three hours later at Ireland’s Shannon airport.
Nikki Hartin Boriack, 38, said children were among those thrown six feet when the plane plummeted. Another passenger said he thought the plane fell 4,000 feet.
Ms Boriack, a dance and cheerleading coach from Texas, was flying to Cork via Heathrow to meet friends.
She said: “We were at least three hours into the flight, everybody had eaten and was asleep.
“It was very quiet. There seemed to be lots of children on the flight.
“Then out of the blue the plane just dropped and everybody who was unbuckled went flying.”
She said people flew headlong into the ceiling of the plane, suffering cuts to their heads. A few passengers had broken bones, she claimed.
Ms Boriack said: “Everybody hit their heads on the roof, the girl next to me was thrown from her seat.
“The flight attendant across from me, she slammed her head. She’ll need stitches.”
The plane plummeted twice, Ms Boriack said, and during the second fall many of the flight’s 207 passengers were screaming.
“Each drop lasted a couple of seconds. There was a loud bang. We assumed it was something in the galley.
“That was when everybody got really scared.
“The worst part was during the second drop – people were screaming. I had to keep my cool.
“It felt like a rollercoaster. The drops were that long.
“I was very scared, but other people were screaming.”
Ms Boriack, who was sat near the back of the plane and escaped with light bruising, said she later learnt the plane's altitude went down by around 200ft.
She added it was another three hours before the flight arrived in Shannon.
There was no warning and the pilot did not address passengers until about five minutes after the turbulence, she said.
“He just said it was very unexpected turbulence. He said normally they see the warning signs and go around it,” she said.
Another passenger, Nottingham student Leslie Chi posted on Facebook that she "really thought I might die" as the plane was rocked 30,000ft above the Atlantic.
On Twitter, another wrote: "My United Airlines flight from Houston to Heathrow has just plunged 4,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean"
A spokesman for United Airlines said: "United Airlines is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA880 which experienced severe and unexpected turbulence during a flight from Houston to London Heathrow today.
"The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where it was met by medical personnel.
"10 customers and two flight attendants were taken to a local hospital and all have since been discharged, except for one of our flight attendants."
A spokeman for University Hospital Limerick, where passengers were treated, said it was notified at about 5.30am about a possible 23 casualties. He said: "When the aircraft landed, initial assessment was carried out by the National Ambulance Service and airport first responders. A total of 12 people were transported to hospital, nine adults and three children.
"Two of the 12 were crew members."
At least a dozen people including two crew members were injured when the United Airlines jet from Houston, Texas, dropped suddenly and spent at least two seconds in free fall.
The turbulence scare happened in the early hours, with many passengers asleep and their seatbelts unbuckled, according to a woman on board.
It "sent passengers flying" through the cabin and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing three hours later at Ireland’s Shannon airport.
Nikki Hartin Boriack, 38, said children were among those thrown six feet when the plane plummeted. Another passenger said he thought the plane fell 4,000 feet.
Ms Boriack, a dance and cheerleading coach from Texas, was flying to Cork via Heathrow to meet friends.
She said: “We were at least three hours into the flight, everybody had eaten and was asleep.
“It was very quiet. There seemed to be lots of children on the flight.
“Then out of the blue the plane just dropped and everybody who was unbuckled went flying.”
She said people flew headlong into the ceiling of the plane, suffering cuts to their heads. A few passengers had broken bones, she claimed.
Ms Boriack said: “Everybody hit their heads on the roof, the girl next to me was thrown from her seat.
“The flight attendant across from me, she slammed her head. She’ll need stitches.”
The plane plummeted twice, Ms Boriack said, and during the second fall many of the flight’s 207 passengers were screaming.
“Each drop lasted a couple of seconds. There was a loud bang. We assumed it was something in the galley.
“That was when everybody got really scared.
“The worst part was during the second drop – people were screaming. I had to keep my cool.
“It felt like a rollercoaster. The drops were that long.
“I was very scared, but other people were screaming.”
Ms Boriack, who was sat near the back of the plane and escaped with light bruising, said she later learnt the plane's altitude went down by around 200ft.
She added it was another three hours before the flight arrived in Shannon.
There was no warning and the pilot did not address passengers until about five minutes after the turbulence, she said.
“He just said it was very unexpected turbulence. He said normally they see the warning signs and go around it,” she said.
Another passenger, Nottingham student Leslie Chi posted on Facebook that she "really thought I might die" as the plane was rocked 30,000ft above the Atlantic.
On Twitter, another wrote: "My United Airlines flight from Houston to Heathrow has just plunged 4,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean"
A spokesman for United Airlines said: "United Airlines is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA880 which experienced severe and unexpected turbulence during a flight from Houston to London Heathrow today.
"The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where it was met by medical personnel.
"10 customers and two flight attendants were taken to a local hospital and all have since been discharged, except for one of our flight attendants."
A spokeman for University Hospital Limerick, where passengers were treated, said it was notified at about 5.30am about a possible 23 casualties. He said: "When the aircraft landed, initial assessment was carried out by the National Ambulance Service and airport first responders. A total of 12 people were transported to hospital, nine adults and three children.
"Two of the 12 were crew members."
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